Briony Campbell - The Dad Project

This was actually shown in one of my critical approaches lectures by Anthony Luvera, Photography and Death - (Essay question 'Photography is an agent of death - discuss')
This is similar to Ellen Nolan's work where their parent isn't very well and they are using their cameras to cope or understand the process of what them their selves are going through to see their parents going through dramatic changes and obviously for their parents to cope with, helping their children to come to terms with life's changes. I found her work very moving and emotional, her dad wanted to help her, even though he was the one who was terminally ill. He was afraid of leaving them behind, to not be there to support and guide them anymore. Throughout the video you grasp a strong idea of what type of person her father is, he's a strong man, who wants to take care of his family. I like how she has a video of mixed media of still images, audio recordings and video. Its a really beautiful piece of work. For this project we have to develop a digital and printed formats of our chosen narratives. Researching her video gives me a good insight to how to combined all the medias in a particular way. Even though my work won't have an in depth meaning as Briony's or Ellen's it shows me how I can present my work in a professional manner.  



The overview 

Being a good daughter to my dying dad was tricky. I struggled to find the balance between dedication to his needs and distraction from my grief. 

At first the idea of introducing a camera into this equation seemed unwise, but eventually I think it became the solution.

This is the story of an ending without an ending.

And I hope it always will be.

This is my attempt to say goodbye to my Dad with the help of my camera.

http://www.brionycampbell.com/projects/the-dad-project/
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2010/apr/13/briony-campbell-father-cancer

Ellen Nolan - Previous Personality

When I was in a lecture with Ellen Nolan I found her work really fascinating. It was very personal to her and whilst she was telling us about why and how she created her body of work I was really drawn in to her story, the tone of her voice had meaning and a purpose to it making me really respect her work and sharing it with us. I am more of a personal person, it sounded like she was tell us a story from a book. Each word she would have a deep attachment and meaning to it. In other lectures it’s usually about other people’s work so there's obviously not the same attachment and something that is personal that you've achieved yourself.

‘Previous Personality’ explores my relationship to my mother as she recedes into dementia. I started photographing my mother and myself when she stopped recognizing me as her daughter. The documentation lasted for three years, exploring a journey of reversal and erosion. The title ‘Previous Personality’ is derived from a section in the form I had to fill out for my mother, upon admission to her institution.

There is a strangeness of being inherent in this condition, an altered state where the family member shifts into another being, whilst retaining the physical appearance of their former selves.

Photographically, I tried to reflect this state by creating images that are simultaneously uncomfortable and aesthetically pleasing. This mirrored the interior and exterior conflict of the illness.

My clothes were used as a visual reminder that whilst I had the freedom of personal expression, members of staff now chose my mother’s wardrobe, brought from a generic clothing company that visited the home on a monthly basis. I never got used to seeing my mother in these clothes, and together with her growing sense of alienation within her ‘home’, they came to visually represent her loss of self.

What remains when almost everything is stripped away? A silent negotiation took place through emotional and physical intimacy. Few words were exchanged, except repeated uttering’s of love and the remembering who I am and who she was.

Photography as a medium seemed to serve the situation well. It was a record to capture my dying mother, a means to examine our state, and perhaps to create an alternative family album.

Photography also seemed to fit the muteness of illness and ageing.

I felt that by joining the frame, I would challenge my position and safety as a photographer to explore my role as a daughter and my relationship with my mother at this time.

http://www.ellennolan.com/Art/Previous-Personality/previous-personality.html

Drag Queen Narrative

Looking through the Narratively website, I clicked on the shorts link and started browsing through the short stories, some had videos attached and some didn't. I came across this story titled 'Queens' by Anne Lagamayo, the small description above the video reads;

Sergio Conrad undergoes a transformation every night. Putting on foundation and dabbing glitter around his eyes, he becomes Digna Shei, drag queen extraordinaire, lip synching to Madonna and dancing onstage at Lotus Blue. 

The video is a series of images of Sergio Conrad transforming in to a drag queen ready to go on stage. The images are accompanied by a audio recording of him talking briefly about who he is and how it makes him happy. I was smiling when watching this video because he is describing why he enjoys dressing up in drag, he said once he starts his makeup he's like 'oh not again' but as he puts more makeup on the more excited he gets to go out and preform. The tone of his voice I feel was that of a happy human being who loves life and excepts himself for who he is, he says dressing up in drag is normal.. Normal is a funny word to me, what is normal? I understand that some people in this world still are very 'old fashioned' and don't understand or accept certain people because they are so different to themselves and how they see the world. I think normal is whatever you are comfortable with and what works best for you and in the end if it makes you happy, does it matter what some stranger says about you. Its a very tricky subject, but within every person whether they feel 'normal' or not they will always have a hobby or interest that they enjoy, their own life is a narrative, they might feel their story isn't that interesting and might not want to share it with anyone else, because they might not feel its important enough, but because it means something to them it is as every bit important as a worldwide news hitting story they may effective millions, the simplest stories are probably most effective because people always have common issues within every day life.

Researching this website has made me think more about what type of narrative I want to creative both in the digital and printed formats. I want to explore in to a couple of mini narratives, staged and not staged and see what I feel works best so I can come to a point where I have a solid theme to express my narrative project further.

Hollie xD

https://vimeo.com/67877045

Discovering the website 'Narratively'

Today I decided to come home and start researching about the word 'Narrative'. I've seen some people on other blogs post from the online Oxford dictionary or Wikipedia so I thought I'd research in to more depth to see what else I could come across. All I did was type in the word narrative and 1000's of web pages popped up, in stead of just shoving research on to my blog and just forgetting about it I came across this website in America - New York. The site is called 'Narratively' what caught my eye was these two pieces of text 'Human Stories, Boldly Told'  and below that 'Narratively is a community of talented storytellers who are devoted to uncovering and sharing in-depth local stories with a universal appeal'. I immediately wanted to click on this website and go exploring. What I was drawn in to was that they advertised local stories, everyone on the news we see celebrity stories, the government, what tragedies are happening all around the world, the weather, basically what I get from the news seems to always be negative news, maybe one small piece about a something positive, which I think is rather rare. When going through the Narratively website there are loads of different stories within different types of media to fit a particular piece, the fact that they are local stories makes them for me seem much more interesting then typical worldwide stories and events that I see on the news. I feel a stranger on the street can be more fascinating then a celebrity you see on TV and other medias. 'Normal' people I feel have a lot more creative and wild stories to share with you, but they do not feel the need to perhaps write a book about it or produce it in to a film or share a story to a newspaper for a bit of money and 5 minute fame. I feel personally these people can be more genuine and also the stories they tell could prove to be more positive. I want to research further in to this website and explore in to the different types of mixed media, who knows what journey I will go on with this new found idea, I could meet someone who has mind blowing story they are just ready to share. Narrative is everywhere I feel, I might not get the most in-depth story told to me, I could get some outrageous story that makes no sense, but never the less its still a narrative no matter the concept or person.    

About Narratively 

Narratively, named one of TIME's "50 Best Websites of 2013," is a platform devoted to original, in-depth and untold stories. We launched in September 2012.
Narratively slows down the news cycle. We avoid the breaking news and the next big headline, instead focusing exclusively on untold, human-interest stories—the rich, intricate narratives that get at the heart of what a place and its people are all about.
Each week, we explore a different theme and publish a series of stories—just one a day—told in the most appropriate medium for each piece. We might feature a long form article on a Monday, followed by an animated documentary on Tuesday, then a photo essay, an audio piece or a short documentary film. Every story gets the space and time it needs to have an impact—an approach we call “slow storytelling” or “slow journalism.” (Stay up to date on our latest stories by signing up for our weekly and weekender emails.)
Our community of writers, editors, photographers, filmmakers, illustrators, and designers have worked extensively for top media outlets like the New York Times, New York magazine, CNN, NPR, MediaStorm, the New Yorker and the BBC, among other innovative and experimental publications. And we’ve subsequently gotten press from leading outlets like Forbes, PBS, Yahoo! Finance and others.

http://narrative.ly/

iMotion Experiment

I was just playing around  with my iPhone 5s on an app called iMovie, I started messing around with it and saw how much fun and also how easy it was to create a short movie or a pretend movie trailer. After experimenting with this app I started to think whether there was a time lapse or stop motion app on iTunes. I soon discovered  iMotion and iMotion remote, the short description on the apple store website says: Take pictures, edit your movie and export HD 1080p & 720p videos to your device or directly to Youtube. iMotion HD is an intuitive and powerful time-lapse and stop-motion app for iOS. Since starting university I've wondered what type of photography it is that I am actually interested in, what do I want to learn about, what makes me tick. When I discovered time lapse and stop motion photography I was really taken in by and the whole process of how 100's or even 1000's of images can been turned in to a video. I had never studied photography before I started uni, I just would point a shoot and be happy with what the result was, I've soon come to realise there is a lot to learn within the technical side of photography, it can be very over whelming as most of the time people want to perfect their work quickly and effectively.

For the narrative project I'm now deciding whether I should use my DLSR Nikon D5100 camera or should I use my iPhone 5s, I'm thinking maybe I should practice with both and comment on the negatives and positives of both media practices.

What does this mean for photography though? If you can do most things quickly on a high end phone? Is my phone better then using the long process of a camera, bigger tripod, computer editing etc...

I created a quick video driving to uni this morning in my boyfriends car, its a bit wobbly but I just wanted to test a quick experiment of how my iPhone creates a time lapse. As I have created small time lapse pieces in other projects I'm wondering what will be better for my narrative project. I'm thinking about buying a mini iPhone tripod so I can create quick time lapse or stop motion videos when I'm on the go on public transport. With a smaller device for capturing images I feel I might be able to capture smaller details as people might not notice I'm recording them, when you have a huge camera out people play up to the camera and don't act so natural. Will be an interesting experiment.

Hollie xD

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/imotion-hd/id421365625?mt=8